A ''Haandfæstning'' ( Modern & Modern , lit. "Handbinding", plural ''Haandfæstninger'') was a document issued by the kings of Denmark from 13th to the 17th century, preceding and during the realm's

personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...

with the kingdoms of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Following Sweden's independence, similar documents were also issued by its kings. In many ways it is a Scandinavian parallel to the English

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

History

The haandfæstning was the result of the strength of the power of the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

. The first Danish king who was forced to sign this kind of charter was King Eric V in 1282. It was used as a regular coronation charter for the first time in 1320. Between 1440 and 1648 it was a normal condition for the recognition of a new king. When absolute monarchy was introduced in 1660 the last haandfæstning was mortified. Unlike in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

there was no permanent charter to sign; every new king had to accept a new one that applied to his own reign. On the other hand, all haandfæstninger were based on the same model. The king had to promise that he would rule as a just king; that he would co-operate with the nobility; that he would never imprison any free man; that all leading offices (what one would today call "cabinet minister posts") and all local administration would be filled only by noblemen; and that questions of war and peace depended on the acceptance of the nobility. The charters did not necessarily transform the kings into puppets; most of them were able to create a solid base of power during their reign. And hardly any Danish king of the period totally kept the rules of the håndfæstning. The severity of the demands of the nobility also wavered from time to time. In modern Dutch, the word 'handvest' still can mean both '

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

' and (as a loan translation) '

manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

End of the era

Absolutism was underpinned by a written constitution for the first time in Europe in 1665 ''Kongeloven ("

King's Law The King's Law () or ''Lex Regia'' (also called the Danish Royal Law of 1665) was the absolutist constitution of Denmark and Norway from 1665 until 1849 and 1814, respectively. It established complete hereditary and absolute monarchy and for ...

")'' of

Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway (Danish language, Danish and Norwegian language, Norwegian: ) is a term for the 16th-to-19th-century multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (includ ...

, which ordered that the Monarch "shall from this day forth be revered and considered the most perfect and supreme person on the Earth by all his subjects, standing above all human laws and having no judge above his person, neither in spiritual nor temporal matters, except God alone".A partial English translation of the law can be found in Ernst Ekman, "The Danish Royal Law of 1665" pp. 102-107 in: ''The Journal of Modern History'', 1957, vol. 2. This law consequently authorized the king to abolish all other centers of power. Most important was the abolition of the Council of the Realm.

References

Sources

* ''Samling af danske Kongers Haandfæstninger og andre lignende Acter. Af Geheimearchivets Aarsberetninger.'' Copenhagen, 1856–58, reprint 1974. (Source collection of handbindings in Danish and Latin) {{DEFAULTSORT:Handfaestning Denmark–Norway Kalmar Union